Engine-tester



l. MONTILIJO.

ENGINE TESTER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.24, 1920.

1,396,454. Patented Nov. 8, 1921.,

Elven tor. Jam

Witness ZJMWOM UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISIDORE MONTILIJO, OF HOLLISTER, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WILLIAM E. THOMPSON, OF HOLLISTER, CALIFORNIA.

ENGINE-TESTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 8, 1921 T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Isroonn MONTILIJO, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hollister, county of San Benito, State of California, have invented a new and useful Engine-Tester, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to engine testers and has reference more particularly to a manually manipulated device or tool for use in testing the ignition systems of internal combustion engines through the medium of short circuiting the spark plugs thereof.

As an illustration of the application of the invention its use will be considered as best applicable in connection with the ordinary type of jump spark ignition systems employing a spark plug for each working cylinder of the engine. For instance, the present day type of motor vehicle employs an engine with several cylinders and it is difficult to know if each and every cylinder is performing its working functions without cutting out one cylinder at a time or some collective combination of cylinders. In an engine of six cylinders it may be desirable to short-circuit or otherwise cut out the spark to five or four cylinders to see if the remaining one or two are functioning; if so, to cut out the one or two cylinders thus tested to test one or more of the others. The particular combination selected or the selective shortcircuiting of any one or more of the cylinders at one time is immaterial and there is no fixed rule to be respected.

Having in mind accomplishing the ressults above outlined, I propose to provide a tool or device which may be manipulated with utmost convenience and particularly one which while simple in construction is capable of carrying out its use in a most efiicient and practical manner and at the same time so constructed that it may be used to test engines of various types and regardless of the number of cylinders and the relative position of the spark plugs on the engine.

In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of the tool and in said drawing Figure 1 is a perspective view of the same; Fig. 2 is a plan view and Fig. 3 a detail view of the extension means for increasing the length or angular adjustment of the contact fingers.

Referring to the drawing in detail, I prefer to construct the tool with a handle or hand grip (1) clamped to a plate or metal strip (2) intermediate its ends by means of the jaws (3) and wing nut (4). Arranged at spaced intervals throughout the length of the strip (2) are openings which are made to receive headed bolts which serve to attach the metal fingers or strips (5) to the strip (2) through means of the wing nuts (6). The fingers are capable of selective or collective angular adjustments and may be maintained in any desired adjusted position, active or inactive as the case may be, by the wing nuts which have a clamping eifect between the fixed ends of the fingers and the strip.

In use, any selective or collective active combination of the fingers may be arranged, with those fingers not active moved out of the way as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Having arranged the desired combination of fingers to be used, the ends of the same are brought in contact with the plug or plugs and with the fingers also contacting with the engine casting, which will effect the desired short circuit. If for any reason the fingers are not long enough or cannot be adjusted to an angle to contact with a plug or plugs which may be inaccessible, extensions may be used as in Fig. 3.

To accommodate these extensions the ends of each of the fingers are constructed with an opening with bolts and wing nuts (7) employed to connect the auxiliary fingers or extensions (8) which are provided with slots (9) to vary the adjustment as to length. Other extensions may be still added to the fingers (8) if need be by means of the openings (10) or the opening (10) may be used to attach the fingers (8) t0 the fingers (5) instead of the slots (9).

I claim:

1. In a tool of the class described, comprising a relatively long metal strip, a plurality of metal contact fingers hingedly connected in spaced relation along said strip and a manipulating handle mounted intermediate the ends of the strip and projecting rearwardly of said fingers.

2. In a tool of the class described, a relatively long metal strip having spaced openings throughout its length, contact fingers comprising relatively short metal strips having openings in their respective ends made to receive threaded bolts which are also adapted to pass through the openings in said long strip to hingedly connect the fingers to the long strip, Wing nuts on the bolts. for clamping the fingers to the long strip and a manipulating handle mounted intermediate the ends of the long strip and projecting rearwardly 0f the said fingers. 7

3. A tool of the class described and as set forth in claim 2 and in which the openings in the free ends of thecontaet fingers are made to receive clamping bolts for mounting extension strips to the ends of the fingers. 7 

